A public thank you to Beano and the boys for a couple of great days of radio in my absence this week. I might be the only guy in the business whose show gets better when he doesn't do it.

Why is Butch Jones still employed? Really. What is he adding right now to the equation in Knoxville. Butch Jones is a complete impediment to the enjoyment of a good 80 plus percent of Vol fans everywhere. This mismanagement of the QB situation which has finally bubbled to the surface this week is just one more example. My message is pretty simple at this point for John Currie and the huge $$$ boosters.....Tennessee fans have had and been put through enough by this Yankee. He's got to go and now. Can you imagine the atmosphere on Saturday? It's going to be close to all time bad for an SEC football game and that's too bad because we all deserve better. Especially those kids wearing the Orange & White uniform.

I'm going to always err on the side of what's best for the kids and the fans, and having Butch Jones around isn't serving any purpose at this point. Get this guy out of here and let Steve Strippling take the helm. Anything but Butch at this point. I'm going to lay out for you in a few sentences below exactly what transpired with the Dormady situation coupled with some analysis from Frankee in Washington who was one of the biggest supporters of Butch Jones heading into the season.

Even before the Georgia loss, I reported here that Tennessee was on the brink of imploding under Butch Jones and yesterday was another day in Butch Jones Paradise. I'm in Philly this week touring colleges with my kids but saw my Twitter timeline blow up on the Dormady news. Here's what I learned yesterday from a staff member and another insider.

Tennessee's coaches have been concerned about how Dormady would take the news of his demotion since deciding to go in this direction last week following the Georgia debacle.

Tennessee's coaches even went as far as giving Dormady MORE reps than the new #1 QB for the SC game Jarrett Guarantano. The goal was to avoid what transpired yesterday in Rocky Top.

Yesterday, when I asked about word filtering through the team that Dormady let the coaches know he planned on quitting the team. I was told 'nothing is easy this year and nothing would surprise me. Put it this way. I don't doubt that at all.'

I was told that Dormady is not only put off with being demoted but also how much heat he's taken from UT fans since the Georgia game. I was told that it's been pretty tough on him behind the scenes.

Dormady DID show up for practice yesterday and worked with the #2's but his presence was in question right until he showed up.

My aforementioned friend Frank in DC who writes for the blog from time to time sent the following note regarding CBJ's handling of the QB situation.

'Butch Jones screwed this QB situation up from game one. First he obviously promised both guys that they would play, then not playing JG, then letting him become the story on the sideline.

Then Jones pulled Dormady at absolutely the wrong time against UMASS just when the offense was starting to click a little. Then Jones let Dormady take the majority of the heat for the Georgia performance by not standing by him as starter on the heels of that total team meltdown.

It all adds up to just awful mismanagement of both quarterbacks mentally. The goal should always be to build a leader at that position. No leadership reps from Butch there! He has done exactly what I wouldn’t do with the QB’s at every turn and it's just mind boggling!'

Frankee. We remember you taking on Vol Colonel back in the summer. In fact, we both did right here. Hate to admit it but the Vol Colonel was exactly right about Butch Jones. I didn't want to see it but Butch Jones was a lost cause even back in August.

In fact, I wonder why he's still over there. See my comments from the top today for more.

It all adds up to a guy in Butch Jones who is out of time. Not only is he out of time but he's been out of time. Sorry to admit that I missed this back in the summer when I was attempting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Well, now there's no doubt. This guy has to go.

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The great and I do mean GREAT Matt Dixon joins now to break down Butch's latest media appearance plus some SEC notes.

Matt Dixon

— 'On the bye week: “I thought it was — if not the best bye week — one of the best bye weeks we’ve had here in a really long time. We were in full pads and I liked the way that we approached the bye week. I think that a lot of times you can approach the bye week as though it’s an off week and our players didn’t do that. They approached it as a week to get better and improve, so I like that from what I saw. Now we need to continue to grow and elevate that as we get into game week preparation.”

— On defensive end Darrell Taylor: “Darrell Taylor has been suspended indefinitely. There has been no timetable set on his return. He’ll have certain stipulations or requirements that must be met. There are multiple factors that have led to this decision.”

— On South Carolina: “They are a very good football team. They’re going to be coming in here with a lot of confidence. When you look at their football team, they force you to execute in all three phases. They’re plus seven in the turnover margin…They are 4-2. Two of their losses have been very close as well. So, it’s a great challenge and a great opportunity and it all starts with preparation.”

— On wide receiver Marquez Callaway: “He’ll actually be out in practice today and that’ll be big for us not only from an offensive standpoint, but also from a special teams standpoint as well.”

— On the offensive struggles this year: “Just the overall discipline to execute. I think the big play has been missing from our offense. It’s hard to be perfect. When we have an opportunity for a big play, we have to make that happen, whether it’s a 50-50 ball or whether it’s the receivers blocking out on the perimeter and getting our running backs extra running lanes, extra room. The overall strain up front - we talk about six seconds, three great efforts - we actually counted those out this week. In terms of what it takes, I think just a high level of consistency, execution, first down efficiency - it’s hard to recover when you’re second and 12, second and 14 - and then taking care of the football.”

— On possible team chemistry issues: “I see these individuals every day. The locker room is strong. The team is strong. We have had a lot of individuals emerge as leaders during the bye week. I told the team that we must learn from the past mistakes but we must let the past go. We can’t get back the past. The only day we have is today. Our message has been to win the day. Our players are as strong and as committed as they have ever been. That lets me know that we are going to be okay. There are a lot of individuals who take pride in being a part of Tennessee football. The older players have been through this. They know that the only way around this is to put your head down and work every single day.”

— On dividing practice reps between two quarterbacks: “We have always handled that situation by giving QB1 the bulk of the reps. QB2 gets a lot of reps as well. Itʻs divided probably 60/40. During the bye week it was 50/50. We have gotten Will McBride a lot of snaps as well because he is one snap away from being QB2. There is a lot that goes in it. I tell our QBs that they don’t have to get a physical rep to get a rep. They can get a leadership rep by standing with the wide outs and going through their progression.”

Random Thoughts from Saturday:

— Georgia is really good. I know they don’t have a great passing game with true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm, but they have an elite defense and elite running game. That wins a lot of games, especially in the SEC. I’m not sure they win at Auburn on Nov. 11, but the Bulldogs should be 11-1 when they play in the SEC Championship Game.

— Every time I watch Florida play, I get mad knowing the Vols lost to them. They are terrible. Props to LSU for showing some pride and winning in Gainesville after an embarrassing home loss to Troy the week before. Ed Orgeron got his team to play hard, something Butch Jones didn’t do against Georgia. I’ve thought all season that Jim McElwain’s job was safe at Florida barring a complete collapse. I still think that, but the Gators could lose five games this year.

— Auburn is a real threat to Alabama in the SEC West. That 14-6 loss at Clemson doesn’t look so bad now. Kerryon Johnson is a playmaker at running back, and paired but Kamryn Pettway — the SEC’s leading rusher last year — the Tigers have a ground attack good enough to move the ball on any team.

— South Carolina put a beatdown on Arkansas. I never expected a Will Muschamp team to hang almost half a hundred on any SEC team. Bret Bielema’s hot seat should be hotter than Butch Jones’, but his $16 million dollar buyout might keep him in Fayetteville another year or two.

— Kentucky picked up a nice win over Missouri. No SEC game is a guaranteed win for the Wildcats, but that was a nice home victory for Kentucky, even if it was over dreadful Mizzou. Barry Odom better hope Missouri shows him some loyalty, or else he’s out because he has virtually no buyout.

— I saw a stat on Twitter that Oklahoma has lost a game as a double-digit favorite in each of the last seven seasons. That’s unreal. Iowa St. walking into Norman with a backup quarterback and winning was amazing to see. Matt Campbell is in his second year in Ames, after having success at Toledo. Maybe a name to watch if Tennessee misses on its top four or five names.

— James Franklin sure looks to be missing Bob Shoop, doesn’t he? Penn St. is the highest ranked team in the Big 10 and Saquon Barkley is the best player in college football, but Ohio St. is the best team in the Big 10. Aside from the loss to Oklahoma, the Buckeyes have looked very good. They’ve beat Maryland 62-14 on Saturday. Ohio St. gets Penn St. at home this year on Oct. 28 coming off a bye week. The Nittany Lions play Michigan the week before traveling to Columbus. Huge advantage to Ohio St.

— A brutal loss for Michigan at home to Michigan St. I love Jim Harbaugh, and think he’s great for college football. But that’s a game you shouldn’t lose. I know his starting quarterback was out and the second half was in a monsoon, but those are types of games an elite coach finds a way to win. Harbaugh is 1-2 against the Spartans, and 0-2 against Ohio St. Have to think he might start looking to get back to the NFL if he can’t beat the Buckeyes this year.

— Mark Richt picked up a huge win as his Hurricanes knocked off Florida St. in Tallahassee. The Seminoles are now 1-3, after beginning the year ranked No. 3. If there’s a team that’s had a worse season than Florida St., I don’t know who they are. Miami has a favorable schedule the rest of the way, though they now have a quick turnaround to face Georgia Tech on Thursday night. They avoid Clemson, Louisville and NC St. until the ACC Title game. Wouldn’t it be funny if Miami and Georgia somehow both made the College Football Playoffs?

— Caught a little bit of San Diego St. and UNLV late Saturday night. I’m a college football degenerate, but it was a great environment for UNLV in its first home game since the Las Vegas shootings. Sports have a way of healing people and communities in a way that nothing else can. That was good to see. San Diego St. is really good, and I think they’ll be the Group of Five team that makes the New Year’s Six bowl game. The Aztecs have already have wins over Stanford, Arizona St., Air Force and Northern Illinois. Their toughest remaining game is at home vs. Boise St. this week.

I love college football!!!

I can't wait until we get back to it here in Knoxville in a serious way.

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Here's a vote for keeping Butch...Sort of.....For the time being...Sort of

'Tony...I disagree with you.

We should not fire Butch Jones before the Alabama game. He deserves Alabama. we are paying him 4 mil...let him do the deed ...Then fire his ass.

- Butch lost me on 2 specific plays(sands Oklahoma)

1-When he failed to go for two in The Swamp and we lost by one, as John Adams says there is just no way to justify not going for two there.

2- When we threw the ball on the 1 foot line against the Gators. Need I say more.

Tee MailReturns!

865-544-VOLS -(8657)Call and leave a voice or text message!

We run the dumbest damn offense I have ever seen. That slow faking, non faking, pull it out of his belly and throw of the back foot, shotgun crap...I am just over it. It is so slow to develop. I can't bear to watch it. Me and my buddies will be golfing Saturday. I am not pissing away another Saturday watching that garbage.

BECAUSE WE CAN: Why did Ohio St get Urban Meyer...Why did Michigan get Harbaugh...Why did Alabama get Saban and why should we go get Gruden or Kelly????

Harp...Your coaching choices sound great in a perfect world but Jimmy Haslam runs our world here, and since he's been in control it's been far from perfect. Here's hoping that Peyton Manning gets a stronger vote in this next hire in a few months. Otherwise we're going to be Googling our next hire.

Florida has a kissing cousin in soccer. Isn't this how Florida fans used to behave back in the old days. Link

Final Thought: I'm putting together a new pyramid of blame video. This one is going to be called 'The Pyramid of Cliches'. I'm hunting Butch clichés that we can feature in this time capsule of Tennessee madness. Email me your choices or what needs to be in our 'Pyramid of Cliches.'

Final Thought II: Did Butch Jones and his staff work with US Soccer in the past four days? What was that last night?

Peace

A New Direction At TonyBasilio.com: Here at Tonybasilio.com we’re creating a series of programming with little to mostly zero commercial sponsorship. In other words, you will be digesting the following programs in coming days with almost no interruption. This is unprecedented in the history of my business. Nobody has ever done this. Here are the offerings coming your way.

Our Family Of Offerings:

‘X-Cast: A Recruiting Podcast’: Featuring Tony Basilio & ‘X’ where we discuss the latest moves, behind the scenes machinations and all the intrigue from the world of recruiting. This will hopefully be offered twice monthly with lengths varying. If this takes off perhaps we can even do some live offerings of this show. THIS IS BEING OFFERED COMMERCIAL FREE!!!

Fifth Quarter Fan Reaction: Back for season 4. Sponsored by Marcos Garza. This year with NO OTHER SPONSORS. This will be pure content for you. I’m taking a chance here but I know you will reward me for not bombarding you with messages Vol Network style. This program will run for at least 3 hours following Tennessee Football Games. We will have new visual presentation of this feature as well that we’re investing in. Thanks to Jayson Swain for helping me with the technical side of our visual presentation.

Southeastern Sunday Night: 7p to 9p on Sunday Nights airing on Periscope/Facebook Live and other platforms including your Tony Basilio Show App. This will be a regional program that aims to keep it real. We will tell the truth on us, them and all with you. This could be a lot of fun if you help me spread the word across the region. This hopefully will turn into a free for all that is free for all. ZERO SPONSORS. COMMERCIAL FREE OFFERING.

Vol-Scars: A podcast featuring Vol Historian Tom Mattingly and Eric S where we go back in time and commemorate the painful losses in UT football history that left a mark. These shows are extremely time intensive to put together. I’ve worked all summer on these offerings and am really proud of what we’ve compiled thus far. I think you’ll really enjoy this. COMMERCIAL FREE.

Gate Twenty Won: A podcast Featuring Vol Historian Tom Mattingly where we celebrate the greatest wins in UT history in time capsule form. These are a breath of fresh air and the type of programming I’m aiming to bring to you . COMMERCIAL FREE

Chill Cast: Tell Me A Story: A podcast where I grab folks from the sports world and our community and allow them to share their stories with us. This will be done in the spirit of the recent re-launch programs that I did. We’ll aim to go deeper here. Stay tuned. COMMERCIAL FREE.

Tennessee Basketball Overtime: Back for year 5! Immediately following Tennessee Basketball Games. A Tennessee Basketball Call-In show featuring ONLY ONE SPONSOR…GARZA LAW FIRM. Therefore we keep the conversation going without bombarding you Vol Network style. What a concept!!!!

Garza On The Law: A Podcast dealing with the legal issues that invade the sports world featuring the great Marcos Garza. We will go deeper here. I promise that you will find this interesting. Presented by Garza Law Firm.

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FAQ's Asked Of Tony Per Our Relaunch Announcement:

Q: Tony, you didn't say anything about your daily show yesterday. Will you continue to do this?

A: Absolutely. I'm looking forward to year #24 with you.

Q: Tony, you used the word 'subscribe'. What Am I subscribing too?

A: Great question. 'Subscribe' is a misnomer. What you actually are doing if you choose to help us monthly (and we need this for budgeting reasons) is actually acting as a patron. The goal is to keep the content (ALL CONTENT, from postgame offerings to various podcasts) free for all.

A: Because you value the content and our contribution to the market and you want to help us keep this stuff free for everybody.

Q: Are you going to beat us up for money all the time here?

A: Absolutely not. I will bring this up a few times heading into the football season as we attempt to meet our financial goals and create new programming. I'll also mention it in the post-game format as well as the regional programming. I will not however wear you out with this. Either you feel the need to help us or you don't. This is why I'm taking today to field some question I received after day one.

Q: What happens if this doesn't generate the revenue you're seeking?

A: We will scale back our online offerings accordingly. The blog itself could even disappear. I really don't want this to happen but will be forced to spend my time in the most profitable way necessary. That's why we're having the conversation. All my cards are on the table here.

Q: When will we be able to hear these new podcasts, like that X-Cast?

A: It's all coming soon. We premiered a new Gate Twenty Won yesterday after the Basilio Show live on the app and will debut one today from the 1980 Georgia game. As for the 'X'-Cast....I'm going to upload these in real time with minimal production. Therefore I'm hoping to get one of these up in the next 10 days. It all depends on 'X's schedule.

Q: When will Southeastern Sunday debut?

A: We're shooting for the Sunday after the first full weekend of the football season.

FISH Hospitality Pantries (a.k.a. Hospitality Pantries, Inc.) operates four pantries
in East, South, Northwest and West Knoxville. They currently provide food to approximately 8,000 families every month.
FISH focuses on what more can be done to help ensure that everyone gets enough to eat.